Less Than Jake Might Forgo Recording a New Album Entirely

It’s been two-and-a-half years since Less Than Jake released a full-length, and although the veteran ska/pop-punk group is plenty busy with a new live album and a slew of upcoming tour dates, 2013’s See the Light might not be getting a follow-up anytime soon.

The group’s bassist/vocalist Roger Lima tells Fuse that Less Than Jake may very well move away from the new-album model and start releasing clusters of singles instead of a full record.

“Let’s talk about that: ‘full record.’ Who the hell listens to full records anymore?” Lima asks. “I think that the landscape is kind of different. We’ve always had that work ethic of, ‘Let’s get together and write some songs, and it’ll be a full album.’ But society’s in this weird singles mentality, and songs get consumed differently. I feel like doing a full record now… [we’re] not really sure we’re going to do that.”

That doesn’t mean that the band is resting on its laurels: Less Than Jake dropped Live From Astoria last Friday (Apr. 29), and they'll be playing a handful of overseas shows this month along with Warped Tour this summer. Lima says that the band, which has issued eight studio albums over a two-decade run, has also been writing new songs since December.

“We have lots and lots of songs,” he says. “Some of them are really great. I’d expect to see something a little different than usual. Maybe it’s not a full-length on Fat Wreck Chords, and maybe it’s not an EP. Maybe it’s just a couple songs on a label that nobody’s ever heard of before. Maybe it’s a few singles. When we’re done with this little U.K. run that we’re on, we’re planning on going straight into the studio. We’re not on anybody’s timetable, but we definitely have stuff that we want to get out.”

So does that mean that Less Than Jake will never circle back to the full-length model? “We’ll see,” Lima says. “It’s definitely open waters. But rest assured to the fans out there, we’re definitely moving forward and writing songs, and honestly trying to top ourselves and write the best songs we’ve ever written.”